BEHOLD (Well, Not Any More...) An Autobot...Michael Bay Style!!

Merrick again...

Warren Lasky just sent this in. I don’t think this is out & about on The Net yet. If it is, I couldn’t find it & apologies in advance. It’s a partial look at Bumblebee…Michael Bay style…from the forthcoming movie. This is NOT a full body shot, but it’s clear enough to get a sense of the aesthtic and approach this new iteration of Transformers will sport.

Personally, I think it’s pretty groovy…although purists may take issue with this (apparently) sportier design.

BY THE WAY: This image file is a bit large…I didn’t reduce it because I thought you folks would want to see as much detail as possible. ENJOY!

'Battle of the Planets' was the reason I got my ass home right after school at the age of 6 in 1978. Marc, Princess, Tiny, Keyop and my favorite Jason, were the shining Manga heros of childhood glory. Each was a scrappy teenager with messy hair and colorful clothes stolen off the set of the 'Brady Bunch Variety Hour.' These were the poorly tranlated but still brillant templates for all super Anime that came after them. Plus they looked like lovely little birds. Birds that kicked ass!!

Basically, I'm one of those dopes who will buy in if it brings me closer to that Nirvana, which is "remembered childhood." Gatchaman is the pinnacle! Looks like an animated feature is coming.

Hong Kong animation studio Imagi, which is producing "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" for Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Co., plans to power up "Gatchaman," a bigscreen adaptation of one of the first Japanese comics to make it to TV as an anime series in the 1970s.Imagi has signed an option arrangement with Japan's Tatsunoko Prod. Co. for a CG-animated feature.Pic will retain the series' five caped superheroes, known as the Intl. Science Organization, and pitch them in a new story against their frequent nemesis Galactor.

It will be scripted and directed by Kevin Munroe, currently fulfilling those duties on "Turtles."Production is expected to begin next year.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Dan Rather is leaving CBS news this week (HERE!) after living in an attic there since he told people the truth about George Bush's service record with faulty papers. Dan, Dan, your such a complex mess of things both good and sourly melodramatic. What a way to go! This ones' for you!!

The Dan Rather Songby Jared Lucas NathansonI think we are all sorry, that you're leaving CBS, Honestly, we thought you left in 04, I confess. I understand your move, since they took your anchor chair away, After 44 long years you didn't want to stay.

Growing up with you, there on the TV was sublime, I honestly saw you as "Cronkite Junior" at one time. You seemed so filled with passion for the news when I was ten, When I turned twenty, you were rehearsed, like all other newsmen.

Once you lost your sincerity, for me that's when you left, They forced you past your principles into a public death. You cried like a baby at 9/11 and said it was honestly, But that's not what you told the BBC.

If you'd faced this George Bush story, when you were in your prime, America would've loved you more, they would have drawn the line. But Dan, Republicans knew that your documents couldn't prove the case, Carl Rove shredded the real ones back during the Texas Governor's race.

So CBS, in its new form, doesn't want you on TV, Next to Katie Couric, you're not what they call cuddly. If you stay, a desk is all they promise you will get, But is it wise to trust Mark Cuban and go to HDNet?

For all your mistakes, I'll say this Dan, you really don't deserve, To leave in shame, a footnote of when CBS lost their nerve, Somewhere you'll always be in that green flak jacket you had, Sometime when you're still our TV NewsDad.

So if you're really leaving, but you still want to be heard, Cast off the sad assumptions of what modern news has learned, And for us, be that Newsman that you were always meant to be, You can say whatever you want, now that you are free!

And take a page from Cronkite before you're through, He doesn't give a fuck about CBS, George Bush or you!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Variety has reported that Conan is on the comeback trail. Of course he is! Comic movies are still making huge bank, as proved by the mild and mediocre X3, and Conan wants to pillage some of that sweet cash (even if Conan started in pulp stories)! But will this be a return to fan favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie fare (take it away Teddy):

Conan, what is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!

Or will it be faithful to Robert E. Howard's original tales, finally quenching die hard fans pleas?Being a fan of only one Arnold film (The Terminator) I think we could use a new, Batman Begins, approach to Conan, going back to the character's source, but will the frustrated writings of a dark, brilliant, suicidal shut-in (read about Howard here) really fit the bill or will it seem in contemporary context to be the wank material of preteen male empowerment and rape fantasy?

Looking to re-establish Conan as more than a chat host, Warner Bros. has set Boaz Yakin to write and potentially direct "Conan the Barbarian," a new take on the Robert E. Howard-created character.

WB is eyeing an early 2007 production start for the film, which will be produced by Irving Azoff, Jon Jashni, Richard Alexander and Akiva Goldsman. Peter Sederowsky and Fredrik Malmberg of Paradox Entertainment, the intellectual property company that controls rights to the Howard estate, exec produce.

Yakin, best known for writing and directing "Fresh" and for directing the gridiron hit "Remember the Titans," has been a fan of the Howard series since childhood and came up with a take that impressed the studio.Yakin's concept is more faithful to the Howard story than were the two Dino De Laurentiis-produced "Conan" films that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the sword-wielding conqueror.

WB has tried diligently to revive Conan and got close twice. "The Matrix""The Matrix" directors Larry and Andy Wachowski circled, and then Robert Rodriguez emerged, but hiring the latter became problematic after he quit the Directors Guild of America so he could co-helm "Sin City" with Frank Miller.